KALAMAZOO, MI – After listening Wednesday to Kalamazoo County Sheriff Richard Fuller talk about the investigation of her daughter’s disappearance, Irene Patrick said she was thankful he turned the focus back to what she says has been “the most important thing from day one” – finding Teleka Patrick.

“Attention should be focused on really bringing her home so she can tell her side of the story,” Irene Patrick said by phone from her home in Florida.

During a nearly 45-minute news conference Wednesday, Fuller explained in detail what sheriff’s detectives have found in the investigation of Patrick’s disappearance. He said that although much is known about Patrick, investigators have received no credible information or clues as to her whereabouts.

Patrick, who was in the first year of a four-year residency with the Western Michigan University School of Medicine, has not been seen since Dec. 5 when she got a ride from a co-worker at Borgess Medical Center to the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Suites in downtown Kalamazoo.

Patrick, 30, borrowed $100 from the co-worker and tried to get a room at the Radisson but was unable to check in because didn't have enough money and did not have identification with her, Fuller said Wednesday.

She later got a ride from a hotel courtesy shuttle driver who dropped her off at Borgess. The shuttle driver saw Patrick leave the hospital in her gold 1997 Lexus ES300, which about two hours later was found in a ditch along westbound I-94 in Indiana.

Among the key points about the case that Fuller mentioned Wednesday were:

Patrick’s co-worker and two employees at the Radisson who interacted with Patrick on Dec. 5 found her behavior to be erratic and strange.

On the night of Dec. 5, Indiana State Police found Patrick’s car along I-94 and inside located her wallet, which contained her ID, $7 and her credit cards. After she was reported missing Dec. 6, detectives found her cellphone in her work locker.

Prior to coming to Kalamazoo in July, Patrick had experienced episodes of delusion during which she would quickly leave wherever she was and check into a hotel or motel for a day or two.

Marvin Sapp, a well-known pastor and gospel singer from Grand Rapids who was granted a personal-protection order against Patrick in September, is not a suspect in her disappearance and has fully cooperated with police. Fuller said Sapp never had any interaction with Patrick and is “nothing more than an innocent victim of an apparent stalking.”

Asked Wednesday if she was aware of her daughter experiencing delusions that prompted her to go missing for short periods, Patrick said that was “news” to her. However, she said she is open to the possibility that some type mental breakdown prompted her daughter’s disappearance.

“I’m just focused on the present," Irene Patrick said. "Had I seen any indication or she had told me of any problem I wouldn’t see why I wouldn’t do the very best ... to have an intervention.

“A parent would not sit down and let it progress to this stage.”

Jim Carlin, a private investigator from Battle Creek hired by Irene and Mattahais Patrick to help find their daughter, said he was pleased with the news conference and Fuller’s remarks.

“In general, I think they were candid and they’re clearly going to keep an active, open investigation,” he said.

However, Carlin questioned why sheriff’s investigators would rule out Sapp having any role in Patrick's disappearance. He said her parents are aware of an incident referred during which Patrick she said she was concerned about people from Sapp’s church “at or near her home” at Gull Run Apartments.

Carlin also said he found the contention that Sapp and Patrick never interacted “ludicrous” and that as a member of Sapp’s church, Patrick was involved in a work program there and had to fill out paperwork to join the church.

“I've got to believe that in all the time she was interacting in the church ... for Mr. Sapp to never, ever have any contact with her is ludicrous,” Carlin said.

Patrick tweeted in July that she believed Sapp sent one of his security people to her apartment complex. Fuller said Wednesday that police had not looked into that.

However, Fuller and Detective Sgt. William Sparrow did say Wednesday that Patrick joined Sapp’s church, Lighthouse Full Life Center Church, and prior to the September restraining order made numerous attempts to contact Sapp, including visiting his house and talking to his children while Sapp was away.

Fuller and Sparrow also said Sapp never initiated communication with Patrick and although she did join his church after moving to Michigan, they pointed out that the church has thousands of members and there is no evidence the two ever interacted.

Carlin said he believes Sapp’s restraining order against Patrick could have been a factor in her going missing Dec. 5. “He could be the cause of the distress,” Carlin said.

Fuller said police are seeking the public's help in finding Patrick. Despite national and international coverage of her disappearance, he said, investigators have received no good leads.

Meanwhile, Patrick’s family is now offering $20,000 for information leading to her whereabouts, according to a message posted Wednesday by Patrick’s siblings, Tenesha and Matthais, on the “Find Teleka” Facebook page.

“Our family is grateful for the efforts of the Kalamazoo Sheriff's Department in the search for Teleka,” the Facebook post said. “We really miss our sister, and wish there were more leads ... She has been gone for far too long. We don't know what or how to feel. Yet, we remain hopeful. Our faith is strong. She will come home again.”

Irene Patrick said she hopes to hear from investigators soon about “what’s next” in the case. She said she refuses to lose hope for her daughter’s safe return.

“Sometimes my mind takes me to the worst,” she said. “... I don’t want to think of the worst. I need my daughter back and I want her back alive.

“I’m still holding on on my faith.”

Rex Hall Jr. is a public safety reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette. You can reach him at rhall2@mlive.com. Follow him on Twitter.